LEARN MORE

‹
VENTUREBEAT
›

BuyWithMe bought by Gilt (confirmed)

Struggling daily deals site BuyWithMe has been scooped into the shopping cart of Gilt City, a subsidiary of flash-sales business Gilt Groupe.

Once the initial transition period has concluded, the BuyWithMe brand will be retired permanently and its customers absorbed into the Gilt fold.

Gilt City is the local, daily-deals arm of the luxe-focused Gilt Groupe. Gilt City’s areas of consumer focus include clothing for all genders and ages, interior design, travel and gourmet food and wine.

BuyWithMe recently went through a wave of layoffs that saw more than half of the company’s staff walking away with pink slips after it was unable to rustle up a new round of venture funding. Those layoffs may have happened to get BuyWithMe in better financial shape for an acquisition.

We first heard about the acquisition last week, when we reported that even more staff would likely be laid off in the acquisition process.

This was confirmed in an email with a company spokesperson today. “We will be taking on a number of staffers from BuyWithMe,” said the rep, noting that Gilt is “not disclosing the exact number of how many are joining the Gilt team,” but that number would not include the entirety of the BuyWithMe staff.

“Our game plan was to raise a significant amount of capital to push this comprehensive service offering deeply into markets and, as a result, change the basis of competition in the daily deal space. We were a little late,” he concluded.

“This purchase demonstrates Gilt Groupe’s commitment to making Gilt City a top player in the local-services industry,” said Gilt Groupe CEO Kevin Ryan in a release this morning.

“BuyWithMe complements our philosophy of providing premium offers to customers at great prices. We are excited to capitalize on this incredible opportunity to grow our lifestyle positioning.”

In a statement, Gilt confirmed that BuyWithMe will conclude all its previously scheduled sales in markets that Gilt City serves. After that, BuyWithMe users will receive offers through Gilt City and Gilt Groupe.